Seek and Destroy
by SharonH
Summary: This is a story of revenge and finding love. It's about finding out if love can survive anything. This is not a racing story. I have not chosen the man that will be my OC's love
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Fast and the Furious. I choose to use the characters because the creators were brilliant, and they are quite colorful. _

**This is a story of revenge andfinding love,and ultimately the test of whether love can survive anything. This is not a story about racing. I used the characters from the movie and their past experiences to enrich the story. **

Caterina De La Rossi sat in the cracked and dirty motel bathtub and sobbed. The hot scalding water cascaded over her battered body. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she rocked back and forth in time with the unique rhythm of her sobs. Pink water filtered down to the rusty drain as it washed the blood from her body. The pain and humiliation at the hands of the police had almost been as bad as that which she'd suffered before they'd arrived. She didn't know how long she sat there, but her body was reddened from the hot water.

The wounds covering her body would leave scars. Just as the events of the past 24 hours would scar her psyche. Where once she'd been a young girl with an enviable future now there was only a shell. She'd thought the most pain she'd ever have to face would have been the loss of her parents six years earlier. How ironic that she had been so wrong. This was a pain of a different model, but still as destructive.

When she finally stepped from the tub she made her way to the bed. Caterina sat on the edge of the bed. She hadn't been able to go home. Couldn't stand to be there now. Her tears were all dried up. She felt numb and empty inside, and she knew she would need to make a choice. She could either let this defeat her and crawl away to die somewhere, or she could make them pay. She could make them pay for what they'd done, and for what they thought they could get away with. Standing gingerly she walked to the only mirror in the room and met her own stare. Deep brown eyes, almost black in their hue, stared back haunted. She was a De La Rossi, and they would not defeat her. Her family crest said as much. Caterina had the money, and she definitely had the inclination. She would seek her revenge, and once she had it, then and only then would she discover if she had truly survived.

**18 months later.**

She was close. She knew it. Deep inside she was so tired. All she wanted to do was stop, rest, and forget it all, but she couldn't. Not when she was this close. How many cities had she been to? How many states had she gone through on her search? Too many to think about really. Then, in Nevada, she'd heard the stories. Those stories were what had finally led her to Los Angeles. If she thought about it she wasn't surprised he'd ended up here, however she was surprised it had taken him this long to get here. First things first she needed to find a base of operations, and then she could start her search.

It really didn't take that long to find a realtor who had what she wanted. She bought the house of course. She'd learned that renting was not the wisest thing. People, such as landlords, tended to want to ask questions. The house wasn't huge. It was a two bedroom home in an older part of town, and what made it perfect was that she knew he wouldn't go anywhere near it. Only the best for him after all. She didn't need much furniture, so she bought a bed, dresser, desk, couch, and television. Rina had her car delivered, and locked into her new garage. She didn't really know what type of neighborhood it was, but the realtor had told her it was mainly families. The woman did warn her that the house across the street tended to have parties frequently, and drove exotic cars, but that didn't bug Rina. In fact, it could possibly help her in the long run.

When she finished unloading her suitcases she decided she was ready to start. The first thing she did was go to the local racing store. She knew next to nothing about vehicles and racing, but she knew that The Racer's Edge was the best place to start. She didn't speak to anyone at first, except to say that she was just looking thanks, but she listened. What she heard was all about who was the fastest in town. A Dominic Toretto. Rina figured she'd check him and his posse out the next day. It was on the way home that her bike started the noise. She knew the damn thing wasn't out of gas. Sighing she realized she couldn't remember when the last time was that she'd had the thing checked over. She saw a garage up ahead. It looked to have been around for a while, and that suited her just fine.

Rina pulled in to the parking lot next to the building that said DT's, and kicked the stand down. A man was walking towards her. He was large, and that made her nervous. Her eyes darted from left to right to make sure she knew which was the best avenue of escape. If the man noticed he didn't give her any sign. He stood at least six inches taller than her 5'7" frame, and either he had fabulous genes, or he worked out quite a bit. He obviously shaved his head, and had a dark complexion and dark eyes. He was the type of guy that drew women to them like bees to honey. "Can I help you?" he asked her in his deep voice.

She hadn't taken her helmet off yet, and was hesitant to do so. "Yeah, my bike's acting up. I don't remember the last time I had her checked." she told him before he could ask. "Could you take a look at it?"

Dom looked at the woman standing in front of him. She had a tight little body dressed all in black, but he couldn't tell what her face looked like due to her helmet. Not that it mattered much. Hey, business was business. Her voice, though muffled, was clear and pleasant. He smiled, and noticed she took a step back. That action with the way her eyes had searched frantically spoke to him. Scared of men? "Sure we can take a look. If you want, just around the corner there's a small store, you can get a drink or sandwich there. We can come get you if you aren't back when we get it figured out." He held out his hands for the keys, and she dropped them into his palm without touching him.

Rina took two more steps back and then turned towards the small store. She was proud of herself when she only turned once to make sure he wasn't following her. He was at her bike, and was wheeling it into the garage. Her face turned to shock when she saw the name above the door. Toretto's. Good lord. These were the people she was going to find the next day. Swallowing her surprise she walked in and took a seat at the far end of the bar. It had become second nature to her to make sure a wall was there so no one could sneak up on her.

A tall, slender girl came out from the back and smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Mia, can I get you something?" she asked brightly.

Good God, Rina thought, there must be something in the water down here that makes these people gorgeous. Rina took off her helmet and waited for the hiss at the sight of her face. She was a beautiful woman, but she didn't see it any longer. A scar now ran from her temple at an angle over her cheek. She didn't realize the scar just made her beauty unique. That night so long ago, and the scars she would forever carry had tarnished her view of herself.

Mia however, didn't suffer the same view. The woman in front of her was stunning. Chocolate colored hair falling in a straight line down to her mid back, longish bangs hung in a fringe over her eyebrows, and her deep almost black eyes shone from a honey toned face. Naturally dark and thick eyelashes swept her cheeks when she blinked, and she was currently pursing her full lips as she considered what to order.

"How's the tuna fish?" she asked solemnly.

Mia smiled slightly as if she thought something funny. "It's not really good. But the roast beef is pretty good." she offered helpfully.

"Sounds good. How about a roast beef sandwich, and a Dr.Pepper?" She sat nervously waiting for the girl to come back. Rina fingered the photograph in her pocket. Should she risk it? Should she ask the girl if she'd seen him?

The tall beauty brought the sandwich and drink quickly. "Are you new around here?" she asked curiously.

Rina gave her a wan smile. "Yeah, not sure how long I'm staying yet. They're working on my bike next door." She took off the black leather jacket she wore, which left her in black jeans and a white men's t-shirt. A black tattoo on her arm caught Mia's eye. It was on her inner arm from her elbow to her wrist, and was something written in a foreign language. The woman had a tattoo of barbed wire wrapped around both of her wrists.

"What language is your tattoo in?"

Rina looked up at the girl. "Italian." Before she could talk herself out of it she pulled the photo out of her pocket. "Say Mia, do you think you could look at this picture and tell me if you recognize the guy?"

"Sure." Rina handed her the picture. As soon as it left her hands the group from the garage entered the area. At least she assumed they were from the garage. The bald man was with them. There was a shorter Hispanic girl, an average blonde man, an average dark haired man, a man who was comparable in size to the bald man, and a tall blonde man. They were all an attractive bunch, and were in the process of laughing at something . Where the bald man was as handsome as the devil, the tall blonde man was just as good looking but opposite in looks. Bad news, the whole group of them. As soon as they entered her entire being shouted 'DANGER'. "I don't recognize him, but let me check with Dom?" she waited for Rina's permission, and she gave it hesitantly.

She watched as Mia approached the bald man, and showed him the picture. He looked at it and frowned, then he looked at Rina. "Why you looking for him?" The other large man with tattoos had joined them putting his arm around Mia. He too looked at the picture and frowned. They recognized the picture, she knew it instantly.

Rina kept calm. She'd been questioned like this before. The racing community was close knit, and she didn't belong. "Let's just say I'm a skip tracer, and I'm here to collect on a debt." she said coolly. "Look I'm not asking for an address. I just need to know if you've seen him." She was starting to feel closed in. The others in the group had joined Mia, her brother, and the other big man. A telltale trickle of sweat made its way down her brow. "Never mind. If you'd just give me my picture back." she said anxiously and took a step back. "How much do I owe you for the bike?"

Dom looked at her through narrowed eyes and handed the picture back. "A wire came loose, although it could use a tune up. It's $20. Keys are in her."

Rina dug $40 out of her pocket and dropped it on the counter. "Thanks. Thanks for the roast beef Mia, it was great." She practically ran from the area. Rina was just getting on her bike when someone grabbed her arm. Without thinking she lashed out shoving the flat of her hand into her assailants forehead. He yelped in pain and dropped to the ground.

"Son of a Bitch!" he yelled holding onto his face. He had dropped her jacket and helmet on the ground.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" he had just been bringing her the jacket and helmet. Guilt slammed into her, and she felt like crying. His friends had come running at his yell.

"I'm ok, I'm ok." he told them. His voice was muffled through his hands.

"No, you're going to have two black eyes." she told him helping him to his feet. "He needs ice." she told Dom. He nodded and the small Hispanic girl ran for some.

"You okay Leon?" The shorter blonde man asked.

"I'm sorry, you just surprised me."

Dom made a decision. "We call him Trust Fund." he told her. "The guy in your picture. He showed up about two months ago. Always wants the best, always buys the best, and never runs short of money. So we call him trust fund."

"Is he alone?" she asked.

The taller blonde man spoke up. "No, he arrived in town with three other guys, but they look to him as their leader." Rina looked into his angel blue eyes. "They aren't well liked. They get plenty of the chasers, but they harass the girls who aren't interested." Letty and Mia had joined them with Leon's ice. "They haven't put the moves on Letty or Mia yet because either Letty would kill them, or Dom or Vince would kill them. Heck if it came down to it, any of us would."

"This a big debt?" Dom asked. When she turned to him the flat look in her eyes told him she wasn't telling them the whole truth.

"One of the biggest. Thanks for your help." She crouched down to look at Leon's face under the ice. "I am truly sorry. I'm old enough to know better than to just lash out."

"No problem." he told her with a nasally voice. "Just do me a favor and don't tell anyone a girl kicked my ass."

She gave him a half smile. "You have my word."


	2. Chapter 2

Heath Canton stared at the crowds around him. Race car extraordinaire, and pussy galore. He smirked, and he could have any one of them. Especially since Toretto's woman kept him on a short leash. He looked back at Todd, Scott, and Drew. They were currently pretending an interest in one of the other racer's cars. Heath sneered, what was the point in that? Speaking of Toretto, he mused as Team Toretto drove up in formation. It was Dom's sister that had his attention these days. He'd make sure he got her in the end. It wasn't like he wanted to keep her, but she was exactly the type that he liked to play with. All of that gorgeous dark hair, and honeyed skin. He knew she was dating Vince, Dom's enforcer, but he didn't care. Heath also knew that at one point she'd dated Brian O'Connor. Seemed they were only friends now.

Dom was approaching Hector with money in his hand. Heath moved forward so as to be included in the conversation. "So Hector, you holdin tonight?"

"That I can do Dom, that I can do."

"You in Trust Fund?" Dom asked scathingly.

"Sure." Heath smirked again.

"What about your girlfriends over there? They racing tonight, or are they just here to hold your hand?" Dom smirked right back.

"Tonight they watch." he answered getting angry. "They watch as I become the king of the streets." he added arrogantly.

Rina watched from the alley. The high powered binoculars gave her quite the view. It had been a year and a half since she'd seen them, but she remembered them all. They still traveled in their vicious little pack. She watched as Heath lashed out at Dom. He was angry. Rina could tell from the set of his shoulders. Dom on the other hand just stood there relaxed and casual. The ultimate show of confidence in one's abilities. The only time Heath had that look was when he was wooing a girl.

Heath was several inches shorter than Dom, and had a muscular compact frame. Chestnut brown hair that had natural curl to it was short all around, but just a tad longer on top. He had green eyes she remembered. That's what had gotten her attention to begin with. His classic good looks. Just went to show that just because someone was pretty on the outside, it didn't make them pretty on the inside. His friends were like muted versions of Heath. Same hairstyle except for Drew. He had straight, shoulder length, blonde surfer hair. Rina thought that out of the group he was the only who rivaled Heath in his viciousness.

She was so tempted to end this all tonight. She had the means, but she wouldn't. No, Rina had plans. They would lose everything. HE would lose everything before it was over. She would make sure that Heath Canton lost everything that might mean something to him. The very thought brought a grin to her face. Anyone who saw it would have been frightened.

The men had gotten into their vehicles. It looked like it would only be Dom and Heath, and from what she'd seen there was more money involved. She watched wanting to see if Dom would beat Heath. Rina watched the two cars jump and speed away. People were running towards the finish line. Dom passed the line well before Heath. Rina wasn't sure if that was due to the car, or the driver, but she had a feeling she knew which one it was.

Suddenly she heard someone cry out, and the whole crowd was scrambling to their cars. Must be the police, she thought with a light shrug. She hopped on her bike and sped away making sure to go in the opposite direction from Heath and his friends. When she pulled into her driveway Dom and his crew were in the process of leaving their vehicles. They stopped as they recognized the bike and rider. Rina had just finished closing and locking the garage when she heard someone behind her.

"You there tonight?"

She turned to see Dom. "Sort of. Saw you win. Good job." She started up the walk to her front door.

"You live here?" he asked curiously.

"Yep."

"We're havin a party across the street at our house if you want to come over." He saw her look at his house, and could practically hear the wheels turning. "Trust Fund and his little friends won't be there." he saw that got her attention. "Just come over and have a beer."

Rina nodded and followed him over. The smaller Hispanic girl was looking at her with anger in her eyes. She didn't know what that was about, and frankly didn't care. Everyone had their own issues. Dom walked straight over to the girl and slung his arms around her shoulders. This seemed to relax the girl a bit. "I never got your name?" Dom asked.

"It's Rina." she answered and wiped sweaty palms on her pants. She was about to enter a house with a lot of people. A lot of men.

"Well Rina, I'm Dom, and this is my girlfriend Letty."

Rina nodded, "A pleasure."

As they entered the house he called out to several people introducing her as they went. "That's Leon. You know him I believe." Leon's face was bruised, but looked better than she thought it would. "That's Jesse." He pointed to the shorter blonde man. "You've met Mia and her boyfriend is Vince." Rina heard an odd note in his voice at that. Like it surprised him or something. "And that's Brian." Brian, the tall blonde man, was currently talking to Vince and Mia.

Letty smirked. "Brian used to be with Mia, but it didn't work. He and Vince used to hate each other too. Amazes me they're all buddy buddy now. A lot can happen in a year and a half."

Rina's head whipped around to stare at Letty her posture tense. Seeing Letty still looking at the group, she relaxed. She turned and stared at the three in curiosity. "I wonder what happened." she murmured.

"Brian chose his team, his family, over everything else. That's enough to change all sorts of opinions." Dom told her staring at Brian. He looked almost proud.

Mia looked bored with the conversation the guys were having and moved over to Dom, Letty and Rina. "Hi!"

"Mia, this is Rina, she lives across the street. Rina this is my sister Mia." Dom left the three women talking and moved to where Vince and Brian stood. "So bike girl is our neighbor. Her name's Rina." Jesse and Leon had moved over to join them.

"You get me a last name and I'll look her up." Jesse told him. "Think she's a cop?"

"I don't know. Not that it would matter anymore. The only thing we do illegal is the street racing."

"I don't think she's a cop. Doesn't seem like one." Brian offered.

Vince snorted, "I guess it would take one to know one." Brian glared at his friend. Vince adopted an innocent smile.

"She doesn't hit like a cop." Leon said morosely which got a laugh from the others.

"I'm not a cop." she said having walked up behind them without them noticing. Letty and Mia were right behind her looking slightly guilty. "So you can quit wondering."

"So it's just coincidental that you stopped by the shop today, and we find out you're our neighbor tonight?"

Rina stared at the group. "I'll admit I was going to come looking for you tomorrow. Heard from The Racer's Edge you'd be the best place to start my search. As for living next door, I bought the place sight unseen from a realtor before I even hit town. It fit my needs. I'll be taking care of my business and be leaving again. You aren't the reason I'm here. You gave me the information I needed today. I won't be bugging you again. If you'll excuse me." she turned and pushed through Letty and Mia. She was out the door before any of them could process what she'd said.

It was the blonde, Brian, who caught up to her. "Hey, we're sorry."

She stopped at stared at him. "Don't be. You're protecting your own. I can see where your conclusions came from."

"It's my fault though. I was a cop. I lied to them, so now they're extra cautious."

"Now you're a mechanic?"

"Yeah, I couldn't keep being a cop. About 18 months ago bad shit went down. I had to make a choice."

"It looks like 18 months ago sucked for a lot of people." she said with a wince. Then she looked at him. "Admirable of you to give up your chosen profession for them."

"Come back in, have a beer. Get to know the group. They're great people."

"I don't form relationships Brian. I should have remembered that before ever walking through that door. Thanks for the invitation, but I'm gonna have to pass." She turned to go inside when he called out to her once more.

"Can I at least ask you a question?"

"Sure." she said looking at him again.

"The words on your arm; what do they mean?"

Her face went hard and her eyes went even darker with some emotion he couldn't name. "It's Italian. I miei ememies cadranno prima di me." she turned away from him again, and her voice rang out clear, "It means, 'My enemies will fall before me'." Rina shut the door quietly behind her. 


	3. Chapter 3

Rina was mowing her lawn. She liked the physical part of it, and the pleasure she got from seeing the job done. Other than that she appreciated the time listening to her music and tuning everything else out. Right now she was listening to Metallica's Seek and Destroy. How appropriate, she thought with a grin. The house across the street was silent. Obviously the party from the night before had tired them out. Rina couldn't remember ever attending a party like that. She'd been to a few, but that seemed like a different lifetime, and they'd never been on the same level as Toretto's. Hers had mainly been college parties. She didn't hear the door of the house across the street open and close. She didn't realize that she'd gained an audience. 

"Something about that girl." Leon said. "She's like smoking hot, but has this hard edge to her."

"That scar is sexy." Jesse stated. The others agreed.

"You guys are gonna get me in trouble." Dom said and looked to make sure Letty wasn't coming. "Everything about that woman is sexy. Still it's like she freaks out around guys."

She bent to pick something up and Vince groaned. "Damn, what an ass."

Brian joined them outside. "What are yall looking at?" When he saw Rina mowing he grabbed a chair. "What did she mean she doesn't form relationships? Everyone has some type of relationship." he muttered.

The door opened one last time admitting Letty and Mia. "What the hell are you guys doin?" Letty asked.

"Look at her." Mia said quietly as she put her arms around Vince's neck. "She's so alone. It makes me feel bad."

"Mia, you can't take in every stray." Dom told her patiently.

"But she is a stray, isn't she Dom?" Mia pointed out.

"She told Brian that she doesn't form relationships." Vince told her. Mia had gone to bed before Brian had gotten back from his trip across the street.

"That's horrible. How can you not have relationships with people?"

She had finished mowing and had cut the engine. Her music was still blasting, and she turned it off to hear complete silence. Looking over at the sound of laughter she saw Toretto's group on his porch. The girl Mia waved at her, so she waved back, and proceeded to put her lawn mower up.

"Hey Rina?" the girl called out. "We're grilling over here this afternoon. Do you wanna come over?"

"No thanks, but I do appreciate the invite." she gave a half smile.

"Oh come over, it'll be fun."

"No really, Mia, I shouldn't. I have stuff I gotta take care of." She looked up to see Leon loping over. These people didn't give up easily.

"We want you to come over for dinner." he told her and followed as she shut the garage door, and headed up her walk.

"I appreciate it really, but I normally stay away from people." she tried to explain.

"Everyone needs friends. Come on over. Not one of us is a serial killer or rapist. Seriously, we're nice people.Fun to hang out with. Incredibly good looking….normally." he saw her blush guiltily. "Nah, I'm playin, but you should come over. You know so I won't be scared of you all the time." he blinked big green eyes at her, and gave her the puppy dog look. Though green they didn't remind her of Heath, asthey were lighter shade. She laughed at the look.

"Fine, what time?"

He graced her with a big grin, and then gave his friends the thumbs up sign. She laughed again as they cheered, and hooted. It really shouldn't be that big of a deal, she thought. "Why don't you go clean up, and then head over? We'll hang out, it'll be fun."

She decided not to argue, and just nodded. Then she headed into her house. She didn't do much to get ready, just took a shower and put some shorts and another tank top. Smiling slightly she walked over to their house with a 24 pack of Corona. They were in the backyard arguing and laughing amongst themselves. The last group of males she'd really hung around with had been Heath and his friends. These people acted nothing like them. His friends had always done exactly what he told them to. They laughed when he laughed, and so on and so forth. Rina could tell that Dom had final say so, he was like their official leader, but it seemed to her that they all argued for what they wanted. Even if it was something as simple as potato salad or chips. They decided on both.

She was surprised to find herself eating and laughing with them. Rina found she did like this group of people. That worried her, but she would make sure that none of her actions impacted them. Mia sat down next to her and looked at her. "What?"

"So where are you from?" Mia asked.

"I grew up in Philadelphia." she told the inquisitive girl.

"What made you leave?"

Something flickered through Rina's eyes but was hidden quickly. "I wanted to see the country. My parents died several years ago, and there was no one at home. I decided to see things before I started living."

"That's sort of funny, saying it that way." Letty added. "Normally you'd think that seeing the country would be the living."

"I meant living in one place. Putting down roots. I can't do that until I finish this thing with the man you call Trust Fund."

"Did you see him last night?" Dom asked.

"I did. And that was definitely him and his friends."

"Were you looking for them too?" Mia asked surprised. "You didn't have their pictures."

She grinned wryly, "Trust me, I don't need them. He wouldn't go anywhere without them, and they wouldn't breathe without his permission. You learn things by looking for people."

"Do they know you're looking?" Brian asked with a frown. Those guys didn't seem like they would appreciate someone tailing them. He could imagine what they would do if they found out.

"No, they don't."

"Glad we didn't say anything then." Dom told her and saw her shoulders relax slightly. "Whatever business you have with them is yours. We won't mess with you on it. That doesn't mean you shouldn't hang with us."

"Because you should. You're new here, don't know anybody, and we'd talk ya into it eventually anyway. " Leon smiled at her charmingly.

"I can try." she told them. "I just can't make any guarantees."

"Can't ask for more than that." Vince grunted.

She was helping to clear the table and she kept getting the evil eye from Letty. She cornered her inside. "Look Letty, you don't want me here, then tell me now. I'll make something up and take off."

Letty looked at her slightly startled. "I just have a problem with girls near Dom. I just get worried." she answered honestly.

"Well, I have no interest in Dom. I have no interest in anyone. I don't date, and I don't see that changing."

"He's been faithful for the past year and a half at least. I'm sorry if I come off rude." she told the girl.

"Well, let's just say that the past year and a half have changed me as well. Look Letty, I'm not the type of girl guys are interested in anyway." she missed the look of disbelief on Letty's face. "Even if I did date, I wouldn't date a guy with a girlfriend. Besides, even for someone who doesn't believe in love…It's obvious that's what he feels for you. The pride on his face as he introduced you last night."

"Thanks."

"It's all golden." she shrugged. "But, if it becomes a problem with me being around. Tell me and I'm gone. I'm not sure I'll be able to pull this off anyway. It's been a long time since I've been friends with anyone."

Rina walked back out to the backyard. Letty turned to see Mia looking at her. "You hear that?" Mia nodded. "There's something seriously wrong with that girl."

"She needs us Letty. She's like you in a lot of ways you know? But it's like she's you and the damage is multiplied by a hundred." Letty nodded in agreement. Yeah, she saw what Mia was saying. She would try to befriend the girl.

"I know one thing Mia. Whatever debt she's collecting from that rich dude, from the hatred burning in her eyes she'll make sure he pays it."

A few days later once they were all home from work Jesse called a 'family' meeting. "Ok, so I entered the name Rina, the fact she was raised in Philadelphia, and that Italian expression on her arm that Brian got us, and found some information."

"You got information from that little bit?" Leon asked. Sometimes Jesse amazed him.

"Yep." He passed Dom a black and white photocopy of several pictures he'd gotten on line. "It was the motto that clinched it. That motto is on her family crest. Seems her parents were from Italy and moved her when she was a baby. Caterina Bella De La Rossi, 23 years old, born to Anthony and Maria De La Rossi. They passed away 7 ½ years ago. She has money. Lots of it. Not a cop either. There are only two more things I was able to pull up." Jesse looked at the group. "There are sealed police records from 18 months ago. About the same time as all of our shit was going down. I can't get into the records yet, and I'm not sure I'll be able to. There are FBI records also. After that I can't find anything for her. Nothing with credit cards or checking accounts."

"You said there was one other thing Jesse?" Brian asked as he looked at the picture taken of a young Rina at her parent's funeral, he guessed she'd have been 15. There was another on the sheet of her at her college graduation.

"Yeah, it's one more picture. Taken two years ago at a charity function. I guess Rina does a lot of charity work." he handed the picture to Dom.

"Fuck." Dom stared at the picture intently, and everyone crowded around him. The picture was a good one of Rina. She was smiling and happy, no scar sliding down her smooth cheek. There with his arm wrapped around her shoulders and a pleased smile on his face was Trust Fund.


	4. Chapter 4

Her attorney called her with the report. Obviously someone had looked her up and delved for information. Rina had a feeling it was her new friends. She wasn't angry about it. She supposed most people would be, but she really couldn't blame them. Rina knew she was secretive, and someone in Dom's position was protecting his family. What she hadn't decided on yet was whether or not she'd tell them she knew. Never before had she felt she needed to explain herself to anyone, but these people had gone out of their way to befriend her. In essence she'd lied to them. She wasn't even sure they'd still speak to her.

Sighing, she slipped on some shoes and walked out her door. It was getting dark out but the lights were on. She felt extremely uncomfortable as she knocked on the door. Leon opened it and his face lit up as he saw her. "Hey Rina, wanna come in?"

"Is everyone here?"

"Yep, we were having a video game marathon." He told her, and stepped back so she could come in. "You okay? You look kind of, I don't know, shaky."

She gave him a brief, close-lipped smile. "I'm fine. Just need to talk to you all for a minute." She followed him to the living room where someone had brought up a second TV, and video game station. All of them except for Leon were crowded around the two TVs.

"Hey guys, Rina's here." He announced. They all looked up at her, and paused their games.

She knew she must look as uncomfortable as she felt. "Look, I'll make this quick so you can get back to your fun." She fidgeted a bit. Gone was the cool confident woman they had seen previously. "I know you ran a background check on me." Dom looked surprised at this, but didn't speak. "I don't care. Truth is if you had asked I probably wouldn't have told you. That's just who I am, or who I became. I don't blame you. If it were me, I'd do the same. I know you know that Heath and I were linked. We dated. I'm not going to tell you what happened, or any of the sordid details. If you have a problem with that then tough. Maybe I don't work for someone else tracing him, but it's true he owes a debt. They all do. It's a personal debt, and I'll keep it that way. They owe me and I'm gonna make sure they pay in full." She spoke abruptly and paused often. "I understand if you don't want to be friends. I know it's not easy when you keep things from people. So think about it and let me know." She moved quickly, pushing past Leon, and moving out the door. By the time he got over to shut the door she was already heading inside her home.

"She must have some great computer people in place if she found out that quickly." Jesse said scratching his head.

"Took guts comin over here and saying that." Letty added, some respect showing for the other girl.

"Well, at least she confirmed it's personal with her and this guy. Assures me she's not a cop." Vince said.

Leon finally looked back at his friends. "Well, I like her."

She snuck up to the condominium quietly. Rina had parked her bike down the street, and now she was in stealth mode. All four high performance cars were parked on the street. Heath liked to be noticed. He lived to be seen and admired. She shot the sucker gun at the closest car to her. It was a cheap toy purchased at any toy store. A small plastic gun which would shoot the sucker dart out and had a string on the end so she could reel it back in. Perfect for checking out car alarms. She took the small aerosol can out of her pocket and adjusted the nozzle. The item had cost a pretty penny, but if it did what it was supposed to do then it was well worth it. Plus the anonymity of the purchase was ensured. She could have probably hired someone to do this for her, but that would have taken the satisfaction of it all from her. When the sucker hit she held her breath. She let it out as she realized no alarm was set.

It looked like a small trial size can of hairspray, but it wasn't. Rina inched up to the car, and saw that Todd had once more left his doors unlocked. Excellent. That's a very bad habit Todd, she tsked to herself. She very cautiously opened the door only a crack. She made sure the inside light didn't illuminate. Pressing the nozzle twice, she dropped the can in the backseat, shut the door, and sprinted back to her bike. Twenty minutes later she was pulling into her driveway, and hauling ass into her house. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, and she was gulping for air. The first step of her revenge had been taken, but there were so many more to go.

It was all over the news the next day. Two of the four modified vehicles outside of a high priced condominium had exploded. The police were saying it was the NOS in one of the cars. They said that it was purely an accident, and this is what happened when people added the highly dangerous NOS to their cars. The third car in had only been singed, but the two on the end had been destroyed.

They heard about the explosion at the garage, but never once did it occur to them that their neighbor might have had anything to do with it. It was a race night and they wondered if Heath and his cronies would be there. They shouldn't have wondered it seemed because all four men were there.

Heath was not in a pleasant mood. Todd had assured him he'd not left anything in the vehicle that would have set off the NOS, but none of them could figure out why it had blown up. Drew brought a lovely Hispanic girl over to him.

"Heath, this is Angelina Garcia." Drew grinned at the lovely girl.

Heath smiled and kissed her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Angelina."

"I just wanted to tell you how wonderful you all are." She smiled shyly.

"Well, we certainly appreciate that." He said humbly. "If you'll excuse me I need to go talk to Toretto about getting Drew in a race tonight." The girl sighed watching him go.

Drew won his race. None of Toretto's team raced him, so he couldn't gloat over it, but Heath had promised him a celebration.

Back at the condominium Heath and Angelina were making out on the bed in his guest room. She felt his erection pressing into her groin and it excited her. "Angie…" he whispered.

"Yeah baby." She gasped as he licked her neck.

"Do you mind if we play a little?" He looked up at her from under his lashes, his green eyes mesmerizing her. "Nothing big, I was just wanting to restrain your hands. That makes me so hot baby."

"Well, okay." She said shyly. She waited while he took some rope and tied her wrists to the bed frame. She felt him get harder on her leg. "Now what?" she smiled at him.

When he looked back at her his eyes were so cold. "Now Angelina dear, I'm gonna fuck you. And my friends are gonna fuck you." Her eyes widened with fear as the door opened and the other filed into the room. "And you're gonna love it." He whispered in her ear as she started to sob.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day Rina was hanging out with the Toretto household. They were discussing whether or not they should go to the beach, or a nearby pool. Rina didn't think she'd go with them, but it was interesting listening to them all bicker. She was almost getting used to all the guys walking around without shirts on. These guys didn't make her nervous any longer, but for some reason she felt her stomach flip flop when she looked at some of them half naked like that.

"Guys!" Jesse yelled running into the kitchen. He flipped on the television quickly. "Listen to this."

A news broadcast was running. "Police are saying that the body they found in the back alley of a local bowling alley was that of 21yr old Angelina Garcia. Her friends who last saw her said she'd attended a local meeting of the city's racing community. They did not see who Angelina left with." A picture flashed up on the screen. She resembled all of the women in the kitchen, but Rina was the only who noticed. The screen flashed onto a police officer, "It is quite obvious that Ms. Garcia was sexually assaulted, beaten, and tortured. There were marks on both wrists that would indicate that she was bound. We are running the evidence that we have and have found one match from another state. We're asking that anyone who has any information into Ms. Garcia's whereabouts last evening, or whom she might have left with, please come forward."

The kitchen was silent. Rina didn't realize she was gasping. Tears streamed down her face, and her breath came shallowly. "Um, I forgot, I have something I have to…" Without finishing her statement she ran from the room. She made it to her front yard before dropping and vomiting into the grass. Letty had followed her, and held her hair back as she kept heaving. When she was done, Letty helped her stand.

"Come on chica. Come nap at my house. You don't look so good." She led her back to the house and helped her lay down on the couch. Brian brought a cold, wet washcloth for her face, and a glass of water to rinse her mouth out with. She fell asleep within minutes.

Brian headed into the kitchen with the rest of the group. Letty looked at them. "I think she was raped."

Dom nodded, it would certainly make sense if that was the case. "Think it was Trust Fund?"

"I don't know. He doesn't seem to be like that with girls. I mean, he's a smug asshole, but raping them? Now I could see him getting violent, but rape? But that girl couldn't handle what she just saw on the television."

"I guess that would explain why she doesn't form relationships." Brian added. Letty nodded at that.

Letty watched the girl on the couch sleep. She wasn't sure if she liked her, but she certainly felt for her. Mia was right, she was so very alone, and Letty knew how that felt. This girl was young, she looked at the guys like they might spring at her at any moment. Then sometimes she looked at them with wonder, like she never knew men could be that way. Perhaps her being around wouldn't be bad. If she was raped, and Letty was sure she had been, well then maybe they could teach her that not all men were bad.

Rina woke up later and groggily looked around. She barely remembered where she was, and when she did, then she remembered why. She knew what had happened to that girl. She knew who had done those things to her. She sobbed a little, and that's when she noticed Brian on the ground next to the couch.

"You okay?" he mumbled with sleepy eyes.

"Yes." she answered halfheartedly.

"You don't sound so sure." he told her with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"Just keeping an eye out on you. Making sure you were okay." he told her honestly. He reached up a hand to brush her hair aside and she flinched. "Sorry." he muttered.

"No, I'm sorry. It isn't your fault I'm like this. I wish I wasn't." she said as tears came into her eyes. "I wish I was normal. I feel things that I don't understand. Whenever I see you."

"You do? What do you feel Rina?"

"It's like butterflies circling through my stomach. It's like a happy little feeling deep down. I've only felt that once before, and that turned out to be a lie." she told him simply. "I'm not any good at this. I'm scared of you, and I want to kiss you, but that scares me even more."

"So kiss me Rina. I won't move, I promise. You control it." he told her looking her in the eyes.

Rina hesitated for a moment, and then, keeping her eyes wide open, moved her lips to brush lightly across his. Her heart jumped at the contact. A mixture of fear and pleasure. She pressed her lips closer to his, and deepened the kiss. Rina reached out her hand and touched a silky blonde curl. She stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity to her, and then finally pulled away. She smiled at him, "Thank you."

"Wow." he whispered. "Anytime."

"Really, I could do that again sometime?" she asked with such naivety and innocence.

"You just let me know when you want to and I'm there."

"Why? I mean, why me? You could have all types of girls." she told him curious. "Why kiss someone who's such a freak?"

"I don't think you're a freak Rina." he told her with such sincerity. "Why you? Because you make butterflies circle through my stomach, and cause a happy feeling down deep inside of me."

Everyone noticed a slight change in Rina after that day. She still got nervous, but it was obvious something was happening with her and Brian. Brian never made the first move, but would wait for her to. She would take his hand, or lean in for a hug. Letty was surprised at the amount of patience he was showing. She wondering if this was more than a flirtation for Brian.

Rina was at home on the phone with her attorney when Letty and Mia showed up at her door. She ushered them inside and went into the kitchen to finish the call. Rina didn't realize they could still hear her. "Mel, I want that file on the LAPD's desk. I know all the trouble you went to, and I appreciate it. I also want them to know I'm here and licensed. Just notify them."

She joined the two girls in her living room. They were looking around at her sparse furnishings with dismay. "Rina, how do you live like this?" Mia asked.

Rina frowned. "It's clean."

"Sure, but that's about it. Have you heard of furniture? Art? Tables?"

"Mia, if the girl wants to live like a hermit, then let her. She comes over enough to realize how people should be living." Letty teased. "Rina, we're here to talk you into going to race night tonight."

In truth, Rina had been considering it. She thought it was time for them to know she was there. Especially since the cops would be sniffing around them soon. Could she handle looking into their faces though? She could. She would put the fear of God into them. "I'll go."

"Well, that was easier than we thought it would be." Mia stated in a shocked tone.

Rina grinned. "It's time Heath knew that payback was approaching."

"Great, now we just have to figure out what you're gonna wear!" Mia said brightly.

Rina blinked, "Wha?" This made Letty burst into laughter.

It had been a long time since Rina had worn anything close to being revealing, and she didn't really know how Mia and Letty had talked her into the outfit she had on. The pants were fine. They were army green cargo pants, and hung low on her hips. Then Mia had made her wear a lace edged camisole. The camisole was rusty brown, and the lace was ivory. The colors went well with her skin tone and hair. She was nervous and wondered what Brian would say.

He smiled when he saw her, and she felt herself blush. I'm such a nerd, she thought. She rode with Brian, and when they got there she realized how nervous she was. She leaned over and kissed Brian before he could open the door.

"What was that for?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Courage." He didn't really understand but he nodded.

They got out and joined the group. They dispersed to talk to friends, and Rina felt the fear edge in. Taking a deep breath she walked forward. He wouldn't do anything in public, would he? Brian had smiled and headed over to talk to a black man she didn't recognize. She cut Heath off on his way to talk to Dom and Hector. His friends were right behind him. As soon as they saw her they looked like they'd seen a ghost, and they stopped abruptly.

"Hello Heath." she said with a pleased grin on her face. No they hadn't expected this at all. The look on their faces, and their silence had gotten Dom and Hector's attention, but neither Rina or Heath's group noticed.

"Well, Kitty Cat, what a surprise." he said a bit shaky.

"Yes, it is isn't it?"

"What are you doin in L.A. Kitty Cat?" the muscle in his cheek was twitching.

"Well, I thought I'd check out the sights. I heard L.A. was a happening place."

"Did you? Well this is a coincidence, isn't it?" he said as a nasty note crept into his voice. The rest of Team Toretto had joined Dom.

"Yes," She told him with a feral grin on her face. "Who would have ever thought I'd run into old friends here?" She put special emphasis on 'old friends'.

Drew stepped forward, his face red with fury. Heath put his hand out to stop his friend. "So how long are you staying?"

"Ya know, I haven't really decided yet. I really like it here."

"This isn't like the little town you're used to Kitty Cat. You should be careful, you don't want to run into something and get hurt." he said smoothly, but the threat was there. Anger built when she smiled widely.

"Oh, I'm not worried at all. I've learned a lot since I saw you last." she challenged. "Although, you're right. Bad things do happen here. Like that poor girl who disappeared the other night. Just horrible. I really hope they find out who did that." she looked thoughtful. "Do you think they'll seek the death penalty when they do?"

His jaw was clenched now. "I wouldn't know."

She nodded. "So are you racing tonight?"

He relaxed slightly. "Probably."

"Against Dom? Admirable." she said. "You should be careful though Heath. Dom's a real man, and a real racer, I don't see how you stand a chance against him."

He lashed out grabbing her shoulders and pressing into her skin. "You should be careful Kitty Cat, I'd hate to have to teach you a lesson." he hissed.

"I'd suggest you get your hands off her." Brian said approaching them quickly. He looked straight into Heath's eyes. "Touch her again and we'll be having more than a discussion." He pulled Rina against him with his arm around her waist. She didn't even flinch like she normally did. It just felt right.

"You and O'Connor, huh? That's pretty funny Kitty Cat. When you fucked him did you tell him I taught you everything?"

Rina kept perfectly calm although she felt like screaming. "Say Heath?" she called out as Brian led her away. "I saw that some of your cars were in an accident. That's just horrible, I was sorry to hear it." Then she walked away, and felt like she'd won something that night.

Away from the group Brian hugged her to him. He was trembling in anger, and she just held him back. It was the first time he'd made the first move in their relationship. So this is how it's supposed to feel? She thought to herself. "I'm sorry." Brian told her.

"What for?" she was confused.

"Grabbing you like that. Threatening him when I know you want to handle it yourself. But when he put his hands on you, I couldn't handle it."

Rina looked into his deep blue eyes. "It's not going to be easy for you in this. I can't tell you everything, and I can't include you in my plans, but back there…You did fine Brian. I liked that you wanted to protect me, and I liked you pulling me to you and away from him." He smiled relieved. "Kiss me." she ordered. So he did. 


	6. Chapter 6

A scream of rage ripped through the condominium. Already, the living room was in ruins, glass and cushions strewn about randomly. As soon as they'd entered the dwelling Heath had lost his barely held temper. Not only had he suffered another loss at the hands of that cretin Toretto, but the arrival of Catrina hadn't helped matters. The way she'd smirked at him. The way she'd baited him. He'd wanted to put his hands around her pretty little neck and squeeze the life from her. The mere thought of doing so aroused him. How dare she come here and try to fuck with him? She was there with Toretto's team. That fuckin Brian O'Connor was fucking what was his! Somehow they'd accepted her into their little family, and now she would be near Mia constantly. It didn't matter he'd get Mia eventually. He was dreaming of what he would do to pretty little Mia. He wouldn't accept this. He was Heath Canton, and no little slut was going to smart off to him and get away with it. They just had to think of a way to get to her.

Todd and Scott had scowls on their faces. Drew however was smirking. "What the fuck are you smiling about?" Heath asked angrily. "That bitch followed us here. Somehow, she fuckin followed us here."

"Kitty Cat thinks she's so smart." Drew drawled out. "Smart little Kitty Cat."

"That bitch is responsible for our fuckin cars." Todd said angrily. "I don't know how, but she practically told us so. I could kill her. "

Scott agreed, "And she knows we did that Garcia bitch. Did you hear her, 'do you think they'll get the death penalty'. Fucking whore."

Drew rolled his eyes to look at his friends. "Kitty Cat isn't that smart. She might wonder about Garcia, but she doesn't know for sure. If she did she'd be running to the cops. And she's certainly not smart enough to blow up two cars and make it look like an accident. However, if she was as smart as she thinks she is she wouldn't have come here. She would have stayed in the shadows back home, and prayed she never saw us again. Did you see that scar?" he asked with pride in his voice. "Obviously Kitty Cat needs another lesson. While we're at it we'll take care of the other two Toretto whores as well. It'll be quite the celebration, and when we're done we move on. This will be easy to take care of, a fucking walk in the park, and Kitty Cat won't be alive to wish she'd never come to L.A."

Rina sat on her couch staring at the ceiling. The adrenaline had worn off, and she was trembling with fear and anger. She couldn't believe she'd come face to face with all four of them this evening. Faint bruises in the shapes of fingers marred her upper arms near her shoulders, but it had worth the brief pain to see the fear she'd inspired in them. She knew she'd have to be extra careful now. They couldn't find out where she lived. Luckily she'd purchased the house under one of her companies holdings. So the only way they could find out was if they followed her. They might try that on one of the race nights. She would have to remember to keep an eye out, and stay at the Toretto home until she was sure they weren't in the area. They might think she was staying with them, but she doubted they'd try anything in that case. Dom Toretto was bigger and meaner than Heath. Rina really didn't want them anywhere near Dom and his friends though. She'd seen the look in Heath's eyes when he'd looked at Mia and Letty. It had scared her. They were both oblivious, so secure in their safety, but she wasn't. It meant she'd have to keep a closer eye on them now too.

Rina stood up and went into her bathroom. On the back of the door was a full length mirror. She took off her clothes and stared at herself. It had been a long time since she'd really looked. Olive complexion that she'd received from her Italian heritage. Good legs, she thought. On her belly, above her pubic area, but below the belly button and a little to the right was a tattoo. It was a broken heart of fire. The tattoo had hurt, but it covered a scar she had found she couldn't live with. Her belly was flat, and the muscles had definition. Not overly muscular, but definitely there. Her breasts were high and firm, not too small and not too big. She'd always been fine with them when she'd cared about that sort of thing. Her shoulders and arms were smooth. Those bruises had healed without scarring. It was the scars on her wrists she'd chosen to cover with the tattoos of barbed wire. The artist had done a good job, making the art thick enough to cover those reminders. Now she had a much more metaphorical reminder. People didn't look at her as oddly anymore. Not like they had when the ugly white lines crossed her wrists. The only other physical scar she'd taken away from that experience was the scar that ran from her temple and hooked down her cheek to her lip line. The doctor that had sewn it shut had done a good job. It wasn't as vivid as it had been. She pulled her masses of straight hair up into a loose knot on top of her head.

Rina showered quickly and dressed in her pajamas. As she lay in bed she thought about Brian. She found herself doing that a lot. The thought made her frown. She couldn't let him effect what she was doing. If it came to the point where she felt that this relationship with Brian was going to compromise her plans then she'd have to put an end to it. She would hate for that to happen. She felt a connection to him, but she knew her priorities.

Vengeance had to come first, because now it wasn't just vengeance for herself, but for another girl who couldn't speak for herself. Rina slipped her hand up under her pillow and caressed the grips of her two custom Commander Classic Bobtail handguns. They weren't loaded currently, hell she wasn't stupid enough to sleep on loaded weapons all night, but the magazines were under the pillow on the other side of the bed. 


	7. Chapter 7

Rina headed over to the Toretto home the next day for the weekly cookout. Today she was bringing beer and pie. She hadn't baked the damn thing. It had been as easy as picking it up at the store. The men at the Toretto house seemed to ingest a large amount of food. Brian looked up as she walked around the back. He gave her a smile and she found herself smiling back. He really was a good man.

Brian stood up and met her taking the beer from her. She set the pie down on the table and the men sighed with anticipation. "It's just a pie you guys." she said with a smile.

"Oh no, with these guys it's never just a anything." Letty told her with a smile. The smile sort of surprised Rina, but she didn't say anything about it.

She found herself relaxing with the group. They were so easygoing. Leon and Vince taught her how to play their favorite video games, and Jesse and Rina went on line and he showed her the specs that he'd discovered for the new car he was going to be working on. She found him to be a genius, but every once in a while he would become unfocused and that was that. Brian walked her home later that night. It was beautiful outside. At her door he kissed her and Rina knew that this is what she should have had. Before her life had changed this is what it was meant for.

"Rina." he whispered.

"Hmmm." she smiled at him.

"I think I'm falling in love with you." he told her. Rina's eyes flew open and found her gaze held by his. At first she thought he was playing a cruel joke, but then she saw the sincerity in his deep blue eyes.

"Oh, Brian. Don't fall in love with me." she said sadly and looked down.

He tipped her chin up gently with his index finger. "It isn't something I can pick or choose Rina. I'm already half way there."

"I don't know what love is Brian. It terrifies me." Rina saw sadness in his eyes. Without thinking or doubting she stretched up and kissed him. This felt so right, did that make it love? Did thinking about him when she woke up and when she went to sleep make it love? Or was it the ache in her chest when she thought of his kisses? "Brian come inside with me."

"No Rina."

"Brian, I don't know if I can finish whatever we start. I don't know if that will ever be the case no matter what I want or wish, but I do know that I want to try. Whatever this is I feel for you is so strong inside of me. This is what I want." She opened the door and walked in. Brian followed her hesitantly. "I want to talk to you a little before. So you'll understand." He nodded, almost sure of what she would say, and she continued. "I was a virgin until my boyfriend at the time raped me. The only sex I've ever experienced was painful and horrible. That's why I don't know if I'll be able to go through with it. Will you be able to stop?"

"The minute you say so." he said with utter confidence. Rina drew him into her room, and kissed him slowly. Brian took his time kissing her and making her comfortable with their bodies pressed against one another. He removed each article of her clothing as if she was made of spun glass. Rina found herself fascinated with his body. Smooth and tan, and he touched her as if she was precious to him. His hands were rough from working in the garage, but she even found herself enjoying that. When he finally entered her she found herself crying, but it wasn't from pain or fear. She was crying because of the amazing sensations he was making her feel. Rina had never thought she'd feel anything like it, yet Brian had given her all of it.

Rina didn't think about the guns under her pillows, but when she left him for a few minutes to go to the restroom Brian found them. He looked at the two Dan Wesson custom made weapons and a cold chill overtook him. He managed to put the pillow back by the time she got back. As soon as she walked into the room and saw the look on his face she knew. He'd found her guns. Fuck. She leaned back against the wall and they stared at each other.

"What are you planning to do with those?" he asked quietly. He sat on her bed with the sheets around his waist.

"Whatever needs to be done." she answered steadily.

"Are they part of the debt you're collecting from Canton?"

"Yep."

"Can you fire them?"

"Wouldn't have them if I couldn't."

"Are they legal?"

"Yep."

"You have a license for them?"

"Thought you weren't a cop anymore Brian?" she did have a license, but his questioning was making her angry.

"Damnit Rina, that's not fair. You have two custom made guns under your pillow, where we just made love, and I'm not allowed to ask questions?" he said as his voice rose angrily.

"Those two guns are mine, legally, and I have the license to carry them, legally. I will do whatever needs to be done, including firing them upon another human being, if necessary." she snapped. "I told you that I had a job to finish. I will not let you stand in my way. If you have a problem with that, then maybe you got involved with the wrong girl." She turned and left the room. She heard the front door open and close shortly after, and she went to her room and dressed quickly. Rina refused to cry. She would not let tears fall from her eyes. That would have to wait until she was done. After she was done she could think about a broken heart. After she was done she could think about the heart she'd broken. 


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a week. She hadn't seen or talked to him for a week. She'd numbed herself so that it didn't affect her, but she knew when it was all over she would hurt. Leon and Letty had come over and invited her over, but she'd declined. Rina had dallied too long. She needed to get back on track. Not that he hadn't tried to talk to her. He had, but she hadn't answered the door. She couldn't look at him. She didn't know if he'd told them about the guns, but she had a feeling he'd at least told Dom. Funny though, Dom hadn't said anything, and he hadn't turned away from her. He still waved to her, and had stopped and talked to her briefly the other day. He'd patted her shoulder and told her to come by; they missed her.

Rina had gone to the last races. She'd stayed in the alley as she'd done the first races she attended. That's probably the only reason she'd noticed the careful attention they'd paid to Letty and Mia. It had made her blood run cold. The way they'd grin and whisper. The way that Drew would touch himself. The two women didn't notice seeing as they were so involved with the men they loved. The Toretto's were so secure in their own safety they didn't realize the monsters had come out of the closet and were sniffing at their doors.

Her phone was ringing as she entered the house. She answered it breathlessly. "Hello?"

"Kiiiittttyyyy Cat." came the sing song voice. Her stomach dropped. "Do you want to hear your friends Kitty Cat?" She heard a sob, and knew it was Mia. Men were screaming in the background.

"What have you done?" she whispered.

"We're obviously smarter than your new friends bitch!" Heath was laughing. "They're all locked up with no place to go, but not our Mia or Letty, oh no, we have good plans for them."

"Where are you bastard?"

He whispered the name of a warehouse. "No cops Kitty Cat. You come and we'll trade. We'll let your boyfriend live."

Rina stared off into space. "I'll be there." As soon as she heard the click she notified Sam Cassidy, her police contact in Los Angeles. She put on her custom Kevlar, the best that money could buy, and she loaded her weapons. Her gold badge flashed on top of her shirt when it caught the light. The past year and a half was dwindling down to minutes now. They wouldn't expect her so quickly. Heath would think she was fretting and crying, but she wasn't. Rina was calm and steady. She strapped the two guns onto her thighs in the special holsters she'd had made for an easy cross draw.

She got to the nearby warehouse quickly, but parked where they couldn't hear the bike. Her stealth aided her in this situation. She snuck into the warehouse, and tried to get her bearings on where everyone was in the room. Through the swinging doors she could see a steel cage that had double chain link doors from floor to ceiling over to her right. This was bolted shut with an iron padlock, and she saw Dom, Brian, Leon, Vince, and Jesse behind them. All of the men were bloodied. They were screaming in rage, and shaking the doors for all they were worth. She didn't know how they'd managed to get Team Toretto behind those doors, but they'd effectively made them powerless. There was a cot in the left side of the room, and she could see Letty tied with rope to the frame. Her clothes were ripped, but still on. That was a good sign. Mia was in the middle of the room on her knees. She was sobbing, and Heath was petting her head. It looked like he'd hit her, and her hands were tied in front of her.

Todd was hitting the chain link fence with a crow bar on occasion and laughing. Scott had a gun in his right hand, and he was standing off to Heath's right about five feet away. Drew was crouching near Letty running his hand down her chest. Time to act. Rina took a deep breath and spoke quietly for her own benefit. "My enemies will fall before me."

Rina stepped back and then kicked the swinging doors open. It startled the men, by the time they started moving she'd already drawn both weapons. Without missing a step, she headed straight for Heath. Her senses were all in tune. They'd been honed for this day. She was prepared. She saw Todd start towards her with the crow bar raised above his head and fired directly into his right thigh. He dropped with a scream. With her left hand she fired at Scott who was taking aim at her with the gun. Scott hadn't been practicing for 18 months. She hit his right shoulder with complete accuracy, and the gun dropped from his hand on to the floor. Drew stood and turned to her with a feral grin. She'd stopped and was facing Heath. One gun trained on Drew, one on Canton. The men in the cage had become silent with shock.

"I've been waiting for you Kitty Cat. Waiting for another go." Drew told her and stalked towards her.

"Drew, no part of your body will ever touch mine again." she told him without hesitation.

He screamed and ran at her. She lowered the gun and shot him in the groin. Not a killing blow unless he went without treatment for a long period of time. He writhed on the floor long high pitched whimpers screeching through his lips. She moved forward again and kicked Scott's gun behind her. Three down, one to go. "Mia go." she ordered. "Down on your knees Heath." She could see the fear in his eyes. This wasn't the same girl he and his friends had lured in and then gang raped. So scared, so destroyed. Not the same girl at all.

Heath dropped to his knees. "Mia go to the fence and let them untie your hands sweetheart." she spoke as if she was speaking to a child. Mia moved quickly and they were able to get her hands untied. Then Mia ran to Letty, untying her and helping her limp to the cage. Rina stood straight, and let the barrel of the gun rest against Heath's forehead. That's when she noticed his black eye. "Who were we fighting with Heath?"

He spit. "Your boyfriend got a shot in."

"Rina, just get the key from him Rina. Then we can get out and we can call the police. Rina please."

Rina grinned. "It's payback time Heath. Did you like what I did to your cars?"

He practically snarled.

"Payback. Not only for what you did to naïve little Caterina De La Rossi, but for what you did to Angelina Garcia."

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said snidely.

"Oh? You don't? Rope burns on wrists, strangled, cut across the face, four initials H D T S woven together so as not to be apparent on the front pelvic region on the right. When your flesh heals the scars are there. Semen from four donors matching in both cases. Now there are two additional cases of attempted rape, a whole slew of assault charges. Not to mention attacking an officer of the law." This statement drew gasps from the cage.

"You ain't no cop."

"No, not a cop. But I am a licensed bounty hunter , which makes me an officer of the law. You have outstanding warrants out for your arrests for several charges in Philadelphia. I was tapped to pick you all up. You didn't seriously think I would put myself in a position where I could go to jail over you did you Heath?" She waved her badge that was hanging in clear view, and his eyes widened. Rina felt a great peace settle over her. "Do you believe in God Heath? Because if you do, now's the time to confess your sins." Saying this she manually cocked the weapon.

"Oh God Rina, don't kill him. He's not worth it Baby." Brian almost sobbed. "I love you Rina. Let me out of the cage Sweetheart." He was starting to sound frantic.

"I love you too Brian." Rina said calmly, "but it's time for Heath to understand that God doesn't necessarily forgive the choices we make just because we have money."

Heath started sobbing. "Drew killed the Garcia whore. He strangled her as I fucked her. He said we should have done it to you when we fucked you, and fucked you up. We thought that you'd crawl away and die somewhere. You were so weak. We marked you with our initials so you'd always remember. We should have fucking killed you!" he was screaming and babbling at the same time.

"Yes, Heath, you should have. Instead you made me what I am. In doing so, you all fucked yourselves. " she told him and uncocked the weapon. The doors burst open and police filed in. "Oh, did I mention I already called the cops?"

Detective Sam Cassidy walked up to her. "Good work Ms. De La Rossi. We could use a hunter like you around here."

Rina headed over to Mia and Letty. Their wrists were raw, but wouldn't scar like hers had. She crouched in front of the two women sitting on the floor. "Medics are on their way. Make sure to keep antibiotic ointment on them." she told them quietly. "They'll heal quicker that way." Letty grabbed her wrists and studied them. Looking closely they could see the scars she'd hidden under the art. "You won't scar Letty, neither of you will."

"Thank you." Mia whispered.

"No, thank you. Both of you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you from all of this."

"You saved us when it counted Chica." Letty told her. "What now? What are you doing now that the debt was paid?"

Rina looked around. This was what she'd lived for. Her reason for existence since it had happened. "I don't know. I guess I find out if I can survive. I find out if I can actually live with what happened." She stared into nothing. "But at least I have that option. Angelina doesn't." 


	9. Chapter 9

Rina looked out the window of the airplane. She'd gone back to Philadelphia three weeks before; right after she'd brought Heath and his friends in. Detective Cassidy had notified her that they would all live. Drew had been the one that had been touch and go, but he'd pulled through. She was disappointed to learn that she'd missed his actual genitalia, but figured that was just the sadistic side of her.

Rina hadn't spoken to Brian in those three weeks. Nor had she spoken with any of the other members of Team Toretto. She wasn't sure if they'd want to speak with her. She hadn't lied when she told them she wasn't a cop, but she hadn't been completely truthful either. The only reason that Jesse hadn't found it in his on line search was because of her very talented programmers. They had told her though that it had been a struggle to stay one step ahead of the young man. The detective had told her that Mia and Letty had recovered fine, and that all of them were going to testify. She too would be testifying, and that terrified her. Besides the one time she'd told the police, she hadn't told her story again. Now she would be getting up in front of a courtroom full of people. They would show the pictures of her bruised and battered body. Just something else for her to live through.

As soon as the airplane landed she took a cab to her house. Everything was as she'd left it. She avoided looking at the house across the street. Perhaps one day they could reach a friendly neighbor status. Rina stood in her living room and stared at the lone couch and television. If she decided to stay here and work for Detective Cassidy, this would really not do at all. She could think about that later though. Right now she was tired. She walked into her bedroom and pulled down the covers. Taking off her shoes she lay down and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't long before she drifted off into sleep.

Letty saw the lights on in the house across the street and felt a thrill of hope. She told Dom she'd be back in a bit, and left before he could ask any more questions. Within moments of her knock, Rina answered the door looking slightly groggy. "Letty, you okay?"

"Can I talk to you?"

Rina stepped aside to let Letty into the house. They ended up sitting on the couch in the living room. "What's up Letty?"

"I'm glad you're back." she blurted. Taking a breath she began again. "Everyone is going to be glad you're back."

"I'm not so sure about that." Rina grinned wryly. "I wasn't exactly honest with you guys."

Letty shook her head. "But you didn't lie either, you aren't a cop. And you weren't here for us. We miss you. Brian misses you. He looks like shit. We're all trying to deal with what happened. Dom and Vince barely let me or Mia out of their sight. If they aren't there then Leon and Jesse are the guard dogs."

"They're just overcompensating. They feel like they let you down before by not being able to protect you from the monsters." Rina told her.

Letty nodded. "I know that. We don't blame them. We don't blame you. Hell Rina, if you hadn't come to town, I can only imagine what they would have done. Before you got there that asshole told Mia and me that he'd been watching us since that first night, and had let the anticipation build."

"They're sick men."

"What happened to Angelina could have happened to us." Letty stated. "We could've, and would've ended up dead. You'll never know how grateful we are to you."

It was Rina's turn to shake her head. "I don't want your gratitude Letty. It means enough to me that you still want to be my friend." Then the women did something that didn't come naturally to either one of them. They leaned forward and hugged each other. Both of them started sobbing, letting their fear and pain out. Two women who might not fully know what the other had gone through, but had finally found common ground even if it was through pain.

When Letty eventually left Rina felt a thousand times better. She hadn't told Letty that she was staying permanently. She figured there was plenty of time for that later. For now she wanted to get her house set up, and talk to Detective Cassidy about a possible job. While it was true she didn't need a job, Rina wanted a job. She wanted something that would give her fulfillment. Something that would give her a challenge. Rina didn't know if bounty hunting fugitives that didn't have a tie to her would be that, but she would find out her options.

Letty walked into the kitchen and Dom leapt to his feet. "Where have you been?" he asked anxiously.

"Dom, I told you I was going out for a bit. Calm down. Rina's back, I went to talk to her."

Something in her voice told him that he needed to ease up a bit. He sat back down at the table. "How is she?"

"She doesn't look so good. She looks empty. Like she doesn't know what her purpose is anymore. I think she's missin Brian, but doesn't realize that's what it is. She knows she loves him, but I don't think she knows how much she loves him." Letty sat down next to Dom and rested her head on his shoulder. "Rina thinks we're all gonna hate her."

"That isn't even close to the truth of it." Dom rubbed his hand down Letty's hair.

"I know." she agreed. "I'm gonna bring her to the next races. Show her that we still want her here. Maybe she'll stay. Maybe she and Brian can figure it out."

"Would be good. He's a mess."

When Letty came over the next day asking if she'd go to the races with her, Rina's first instinct had been to decline. Letty kept pressing the matter though, and she finally found herself caving. Dressed in her standard black jeans and black tank, they pulled into the Toretto formation to find that everyone was already there. Letty led her forward to where Hector and Dom were standing. Rina felt a lump in her throat. She was terrified. Completely terrified that these people would reject her.

"Hector you remember Rina?" Letty asked.

"Yeah, I remember Rina." He said, and Rina saw something odd in his eyes. "You brought down Trust Fund? You a bounty hunter?"

"Yeah, I am." she said lifting her chin in the air.

"Then you're the one we owe." he said.

Rina took a step back. Had Letty brought her here as a trap?

Hector continued, as the group around them grew with the entire racing community. "We see the news. We know what they did. You saved Dom, and his team; my friends." he said with a slight smile. "But you also avenged Angelina. She was one of ours, and I didn't take good enough care of her. None of us did. But you, you're a true soldier, and for that you'll always have my peoples gratitude."

Rina was shocked. Tears started forming behind her eyes.

"You have all of our gratitude." A black man named Edwin said. "You a true super hero."

Another man who she didn't know stepped forward. "Those guys could have done this to any of the girls who come out here, and we wouldn't know because of how much they didn't look the part. You're welcome with my group any time."

"Thank you." she whispered to them all. Finally, Letty let her pull away, and she walked off to catch her breath and steady her nerves. She'd made a difference. She hadn't just done for herself, if she had it would have been selfishness. No, Rina had done it for all the girls who weren't Catrina De La Rossi, and Angelina Garcia. She'd done it for all the women they'd yet to terrorize, and torture. It made her feel the best she'd felt in a long time. Rina happened to look up and into Brian's eyes. He wasn't close, he was over behind Dom, but she felt as if he was right in front of him. How was she supposed to fix this? 


	10. Chapter 10

Rina was mowing her lawn and listening to her walkman. The music was pumping. It had been several weeks and she hadn't figured out how to approach Brian. He certainly wasn't approaching her. She'd temporarily thought it might be for the best, but had thrown that thought out the window almost immediately. She missed him damn it! It was her turn to have something good.

Rina knew she should have told him at least who and what she was. When he found her weapons would have been the perfect opportunity, but she hadn't. She wasn't sure if it was because she hadn't trusted him, or she hadn't trusted herself. She knew she regretted it. Rina rarely regretted, because regret got you no where. It didn't change things, or take you to the past. In this though, she had regret. Perhaps if she'd told him to trust in her, and know she would never try to kill anyone. Instead she'd gotten defensive and went on the attack.

Letty and Mia kept inviting her over for dinner. She kept declining. How could she sit across the table from him and not talk to him? How could she sit there and pretend everything was okay? Worse yet, what if he just acted like he didn't even care? Like it never even mattered?

Detective Cassidy had offered her a job, but she'd declined. She'd hung up the badge she'd carried, and put her beautiful nickel plated friends away. Rina didn't know what she'd do, but she knew she had plenty of time to find out. She'd thought about a small detective agency, but didn't want anything dangerous. She wasn't too worried about it at this point. Rina was still musing over the possibilities when she tripped, fell forward, knocked her forehead into the mower handle, and sliced open her right forearm on some part of her lawnmower. The mower shut off automatically, but Rina hit the ground on her knees hard enough to jar her bones. She stayed there for a few moments as the adrenaline spike settled.

Noticing the sting in arm she brought it up to look at. She grimaced at the deep cut that ran diagonally across her forearm. It looked about three inches long, and blood welled from it steadily. Standing she noticed that she'd scraped her knees pretty good as well. Almost growling in frustration she headed inside and grabbed a clean towel. She wrapped it around her arm, and then grabbed another towel to blot her knees. Rina's forehead was aching, and looking in the mirror it looked like she would have a nice purple, good sized goose egg forming almost right between her eyes and up a little. She was pretty sure the arm needed stitches, but she couldn't drive. Hopefully, Letty, or Mia were home.

Rina hobbled slowly over to the Toretto home and knocked on the door with her good arm. She was wrapping the towel tighter around her still bleeding profusely arm when the door opened. It wasn't Mia, or Letty. She found herself looking into Brian's beautiful blue eyes. He frowned slightly, and she almost laughed because she knew she was quite the mess. "Are Letty or Mia home?" she asked slightly breathlessly.

"No." he answered.

"Shit." She said. "Okay, thanks." She would just have to try to drive herself. She certainly wasn't calling a fucking ambulance.

"Do you need something?" he asked looking her over. Blood was starting to dry on her knees, the bump to her melon was swelling, and her arm was throbbing.

"No. I got it covered." She told him shaking her head back and forth. Rina stopped that quickly due to it making her dizzy.

Brian looked down and frowned even more. "Why are you bleeding on the porch then?" he asked.

She looked down to find the towel dripping. "Oops. I'll come back and clean that up later, ok? Thanks." Rina turned and headed down the three steps, only to feel Brian take her left arm in his hand.

He sighed, "Don't be an idiot. You obviously can't drive like this. Probably bleed to death and cause a major car collision on the highway." He was muttering as he led her to his car and put her inside. He moved quickly to the driver side, and started the car. Brian knew she must not be feeling great if she wasn't arguing about it.

He was right. She was feeling dizzy and nauseous. That bump on the head must have been worse than she thought. "I'm going to bleed all over your nice car." She said fretfully.

"Good thing it's black interior then." He told her shortly. "What'd you do?"

"Tripped while mowing." She answered ruefully.

They were silent for the rest of the ride to the hospital emergency room. They got there and she walked in. He stayed close to her because she seemed unsteady. It only took moments for them to usher her into a room. Brian hadn't ever seen them move as quickly; must be a slow night. Rina was getting annoyed because they wouldn't let her lay down, and they kept shining tiny lights in her eyes.

The doctor on call had the nurse clean out the wounds on her knees, and she hissed at the pain that caused. Then he decided her left knee needed two stitches. Once those were cleaned and patched he went on to start cleaning and stitching her arm. She didn't watch because she knew it would make her even more nauseous. When he was done she looked at the row of ten black stitches and sighed. Yet another scar.

"Well. You did a number on yourself young lady. You need to keep the stitches clean and dry, and you aren't allowed to go to sleep for the next twenty four hours. If you do sleep, then someone needs to wake you up every hour." The nurse brought in a prescription they'd had the hospital fill for her, and sent her on her way.

Rina hobbled out to the car in a foul mood. She was tired, hungry, and in pain, and she didn't want any stupid pain pills. As soon as they pulled into the Toretto drive Rina was out of the car. "Thanks for taking me." She told him and started stalking off to her house.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

She stopped and looked back at him. "Home?"

"No. You aren't allowed to be alone for 24 hours, so get your ass over here." He told her, his expression never changing.

She blinked at him in surprise. Had Brian just talked to her like that? "I'm fine." She began tentatively. "I'll just…"

Brian stalked towards her an annoyed line in the middle of his forehead. "Do not make me pick you up and carry you into the damn house. It'll make your head hurt more."

Rina stared at this new pushy Brian. Then she meekly followed him into the house.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So, i totally used creative license with the whole grand jury thing. Just an FYI.**

Brian made her sit down on the couch, and she sat down grumpily. "I'd be fine at home." He just stared at her, and Rina had the adolescent urge to stick her tongue out at him. He went into the kitchen and came out with a glass of ice water and one of her pills in his hand. Rina softened slightly. He'd remembered that she loved ice water, instead of just tap water.

"Take this." he said handing her the pill and water glass. She sighed but did what he said to do.

"Is it going to make me drowsy?"

"Probably." he said shortly. "But I'll make sure you either stay awake, or wake up every hour."

Rina looked up at his harsh face and felt like crying. She couldn't remember the last time she'd cried in front of a man. Yes she did. It had been when they'd raped her. Well, she wouldn't cry now either. Her cell phone rang so she answered it quickly despite Brian's frown. Seeing the number on the display she knew it was Detective Cassidy. "Hey Sam…Yeah, I'm fine…Tomorrow, yeah I'm free. I'll see you then." She hung up the phone and felt a sickness in the pit of her stomach.

"Hot date?" he said moodily.

Her head whipped around, which made it hurt more. "It's the Grand Jury hearing against Heath and his friends." she told him quietly.

"Oh."

"Are you going to hate me forever Brian?" she asked in a small voice.

"What are you talking about? Don't be absurd." he told her running his hands through his hair. "You know I don't hate you. Couldn't hate you."

"Really? Because you do a good imitation of hating me. I can't apologize for not telling you who I was, or why I was here Brian."

"You could've had told me you weren't setting out to kill anyone. You could have trusted me that much." he said angrily. "Do you have any idea how I felt hearing him call you. Knowing you'd come. Because I knew Rina, I knew you'd come and I couldn't protect you."

"I didn't need protection!" she yelled.

"Do you have any idea what I felt when you came blazing into that warehouse with your guns? Not knowing if you'd live, and if you did live would I be visiting you in prison for the rest of our lives."

Rina shook her head bitterly. "No Brian. I didn't know how you felt. And I couldn't think of how you felt. If I was going to survive, and get you all out of there, then I had to do my job. My job was to bring them in one way or the other. Perhaps I didn't trust you enough to tell you some, but why should I Brian? Because you're different? I know you're different. I could have never had sex with you if I didn't know that. It doesn't change that I couldn't let anything distract me."

Neither of them noticed that the door had opened and Dom, Mia, Vince, and Letty stood there. "So I was just a distraction?" pain lanced his voice.

"That isn't what I meant!" she cried. "I didn't come here to meet anyone. Damn it Brian! I was doing my job! When I found you, it scared me, you made me feel again, but I still had a job to finish. I'm sorry you can't understand that." Tears were slipping down her cheeks, but she didn't notice them.

Brian turned his back his fists clenched at his sides. Rina sobbed once and pushed past everyone and down the steps towards her home. Brian turned, "She can't be alone. Not for 24 hours." Mia nodded and she and Letty took off after Rina. Vince and Dom entered the house and looked quietly at Brian who stood looking grim and haggard.

"Sit down Brian." Vince said quietly.

When all three men were sitting Dom looked at Brian. His friend was in a lot of pain. Both of his friends were. He knew that it wasn't only that she hadn't shared with him. There were so many things moving in Brian's head right now. But Dom knew that they either needed to fix it, or make a clean break. Neither of them could keep living in this half life. "Brian, you either need to accept that Rina did what she felt was right, or you need to let go and move on. Don't you remember being in her position?" Dom said softly.

"We know what we're talking about here Brian. There was a time that we had to sit down and either accept that you'd lied, or not accept it." Vince told him.

"I know."

"What you need to determine is whether you can live with the fact that she didn't share with you, and she put herself in the line of fire for all of us. She saved us all man. It isn't as hard on me as it is to you, because she saved Letty and Mia." Dom said putting his hand on Brian's shoulder.

Vince realized something. "That's not the only you're having problems with is it Brian? She saved Mia and Letty, but no one saved her."

With this Brian broke down. There was no embarrassment. The pain he felt was real, and these were his friends. "No one helped her. They hurt her, and they changed her, and they tried to destroy her. And I meet her after the fact, when I can't help her. When I can't do anything to help her." Vince held Brian like he was a little boy. "She's so beautiful, and smart, and courageous. And I love her so much, but I can't erase it, I can't save her."

"You did save her Brian. You showed her someone could love her, and treat her with respect." Dom told him.

"Do you think that if she hadn't met you she would be here now? She came back here Brian. She didn't stay in Philadelphia, she came back here."

Rina was sworn in for her oath before the Grand Jury. This wasn't as formal as the actual trial would be. She'd found out that they were being tried with the possibility of the death penalty. They would be tried separately in Philadelphia for her rape and attack, but she was asked to speak here today as well. The prosecutor asked her to tell her story.

"My name is Caterina Bella De La Rossi. I was born outside of Naples Italy, and my parents moved us to Philadelphia when I was nine months old. I'm twenty three years old. I began dating Heath Canton my last year of college. His parents came from money, and when my parents died, I was left with money. We met at a charity event and began seeing each other steadily. Besides a few dates before, Heath was the most serious relationship that I'd had up to that point. " Rina saw Team Toretto in the back of the room. Brian was there. Rina looked at the grand jury. "Heath told me he had a surprise for me. I'd decided to make love to him that night. I was a virgin. He picked me up and took me to his condominium. We were in the bedroom, and he started getting rough. I told him to stop, I wasn't enjoying it. He told me that was too bad, he liked it rough." Rina fell into her memories and told them like they'd happened the day before.

_"Heath, stop! You're hurting me." Rina told him with wide, frightened eyes._

_"That's too bad baby. Cuz I'm gonna fuck you, and then my friends are gonna fuck you." he laughed at her expression and his friends entered the room behind him. Heath ripped her clothes off roughly, piece by piece until she lay naked and tied to the bed with rope. She fought but couldn't fight hard enough to stop the large man from roughly pulling her thighs apart and penetrating her. She screamed in pain. He finished quickly and rolled off so Drew could take him place. They all raped her once, and then Drew decided he wanted to play. He had a pocket knife and all four of them carved their initials into her belly close to her right pelvis bone. Heath and Drew raped her again, and then while he was in the middle of assaulting her Drew took his pocket knife and sliced from her temple to the edge of her mouth. The screams seemed to excite him more, and they all took pleasure in beating her._

Rina came back to herself. Lifting her hand she realized her cheeks were wet. She looked at the jury and saw their compassion. "They left me there. I managed to call the police, and they came for me. I studied for a year with the best and became a certified and licensed Bounty Hunter. I wouldn't let them do to someone else what they did to me. Unfortunately I was not able to save Angelina Johnson." They heard the guilt in her voice, the drop in her shoulders from the weight of that guilt. She went on to describe the call she'd gotten that night. She testified that her badge had been in plain sight the entire time, and that she'd made sure to only shoot to wound feeling that force was necessary as they'd already injured people, and had hostages. Rina finished her testimony and left the stand.

She didn't know where she was going when she left the courtroom. Rina just knew she was almost done. She drove aimlessly and ended up at the beach. Her cell phone rang and she answered it. The prosecutor was calling to tell her that they'd indicted all four men, and to thank her for her testimony.

"See anything interesting?"

Rina turned to find Brian behind her. "How'd you find me?"

"Pure luck. I was driving around, and spotted your car."

She nodded in acceptance.

"So, what now?" he asked.

"I don't know." she told him truthfully. "I don't know if I know how to go on. I don't know if I can survive with the memories."

"Make new memories."

She grinned wryly, "Easier said than done."

"Not if you have help." he told her and stretched out his hand to her. "I'll help you. We can make new memories together. I know it'll never take away your pain, or erase all your fear, but I can hold you when you're scared, and I can soothe you when you're hurt."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Short chapter. It isn't over yet, unless you're already tired of it. Then it could be over...But I hadn't planned on it being over. Oh no, there isn't a happy ending for Rina yet. Unfortunately, poor Rina still has some nightmares to live through.**

**BTW-- I read a story yesterday. Racing Stripes. Quite good. I wanted that author to know I hadn't read her story when I started mine so the coincidence in similar last names and the Italian part, was purely that--coincidence. **

Rina looked at Brian's hand stretched towards her. "I thought you hated me?"

"Never could I hate you Rina, never. I love you to the point of heart ache. I'm so angry that I couldn't save you the way you saved Letty and Mia."

"Brian" she started, but he interrupted.

"No. I know I didn't know you then, so it's pointless to regret, but I do." He still hadn't moved. His hand still out to her. "I'm angry with myself for being put in a situation where you could have been harmed. We were so stupid that day, and after everything you'd been through at their hands you risked your life for us. You faced your demons, figuratively and literally, for us." Brian dropped his head. "I couldn't help you."

Rina stepped forward, her fingertips brushing his, and entwined her hand with his. He looked at her. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to survive anymore." She confided.

"You are one of the strongest people I know."

"I do love you Brian. I wasn't lying that day in the warehouse."

"I wasn't lying either. I was in limbo until you entered our lives, and it's like you woke me up. Gave me something to look forward to every day."

"Brian, I can't promise you that I won't be affected by my past. I can't promise you that something you say or do won't remind me. There might be times when I shy away or even run away. There might be times when I can't stand the thought of being touched. I will forever have marks on my body from that night, and I'll forever have scars. Mental as well as the physical. Can you truly tell me those are things you can handle?"

"I don't know Rina, but I want to try. Are you willing to give us a shot?"

She looked at the tall, handsome man before her. Was she? If she wasn't then it wouldn't be fair to go any further. Rina reached out with her free hand and cupped the side of his face. "Yes Brian, I'm willing."

Brian pulled her in closer and wrapped his free arm around her waist. Very slowly he lowered his head, their gazes still locked, and kissed her. His eyes shut at the power of the kiss. He'd missed this so much. Missed her being with him so much.

They left the beach shortly after that and headed back to the Toretto home. Everyone was in the living room, and Letty was holding a crying Mia. They looked up as Rina and Brian entered.

Mia sobbed. "They indicted Rina, they indicted on Angelina's murder, rape, and assault, and our kidnapping, assaults, and attempted rape. They also indicted on assault on a federal officer."

Rina nodded at Mia. "I know Mia, Ms. Carruthers already called me." She saw Vince on the couch with his head in his hands. He looked pale and ragged. Rina crouched down and met Mia's eyes. She spoke extremely softly. "Mia. Everything is going to be fine now. You can easily move past this, you're a Toretto. Look at Vince Mia." She saw the girl's eyes dart to Vince and then back to her, concern filling the large brown orbs. "He needs you right now Mia. He couldn't save you and he doesn't know how to help you now. That means you have to help him." A look of understanding came into Mia's eyes and she got up and went to Vince. She held him to her, his head to her belly. Rina stood. "All of you need to move past this now. It's over, and there's nothing that anyone could have done. It was meant to happen the way it happened. That was God's will. If you hadn't been behind the fence then they would have shot you. Then you'd be dead instead of just feeling pointlessly guilty."

Everyone looked at her in shock. Her tone was blunt. "Look at what they did to me. I almost let it ruin my life. I went for a year and a half without forming any attachments. I blamed myself, wondering what I could have done differently. Hating myself for my weakness. If I'd been a little stronger, a littler faster, a little smarter. Ifs don't matter in this life. You all are a family you have each other." Rina turned to face the men. "Mia and Letty don't blame you for not being able to rescue them. They blame themselves for not being able to rescue themselves. They blame themselves for attracting the monsters. They don't blame you for not knowing this would happen, because you couldn't have known." She turned to Mia and Letty. "You did nothing to attract their attention. Those men make a habit of preying on the attractive, or who they consider weaker. You fit a profile for them. Long dark hair, dark eyes, olive complexion from either Italian or Latin descent." She finally addressed the group. "Don't let them win. Don't let them fuck up your entire lives like I almost let them do to me. You guys have something pretty special here. Something that so few people actually have." Rina started to leave, but stopped when Letty spoke.

"You have it now too Rina." When Rina turned to face Letty she continued. "You're part of our family too."


	13. Chapter 13

Rina watched Brian as he fiddled with her lawn mower. The sun would catch his hair and it would gleam. She found herself fascinated by it. He would look up at her sometimes and smile. It made her heart skip a beat. It hurt, this feeling that she had when she looked at him. It was a sweet pain, and it filled her entire being. When had that happened? She didn't know. Really, she didn't care. The point was that it did happen, and it was how she felt, and it wasn't going to change. She knew that too. What she felt for Brian was real, and wasn't going away.

They hadn't been together intimately since the night he'd found her guns. Before everything. True, they'd 'made up', and he kissed her, but now there seemed to be something he was holding back. The thought made her angry. She knew it was because he knew everything now. He'd seen the photos. He'd heard them talk about what they'd done. Rina didn't think it was because of the deception. She truly felt they'd gotten past that. Now she had to figure out how to get him past her attack. Strange, she never thought it would be something she'd worry about. Every time she leaned in for a deeper kiss, every time she tried to turn it into something more, he pulled back. Treated her like a precious object to be put up high on a shelf. Encased in glass and only looked at, never touched. Rina wanted him with every fiber of her being.

He looked up at her from the mower and frowned. "You okay?"

"Sure." she told him with a half smile. "Any idea what's wrong with that idiotic thing?"

"I think it's the spark plug." he said with a sigh. "I'll have to pick one up for you."

"I can pick it up."

"I know you can, but I'd like to." he smiled. He leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. When she pushed into him asking for more, he hesitated and pulled away. "I'd better go get cleaned up."

"Sure." she told him. She watched him walk into the house and waited for a moment before following him with a determined stride. He was in the bathroom attached to her bedroom. She shut the door and locked it quietly behind her. Then she took her clothes off. If this didn't do it, she really didn't know what would.

Brian walked out of the bathroom to find the shock of his life. Rina, his beautiful Rina, was leaning against her shut bedroom door naked. It almost made his heart stop. He'd been trying to restrain himself around her for weeks. After seeing what those monsters did to her he didn't want to rush her. Didn't want her to jump into anything thinking she had to make him happy. He figured they could work up to it gradually. It was hard, especially when he kissed her and tasted her. She tasted so sweet. "Rina, what are you doing?" he managed to choke out.

"I'm taking matters into my own hands Brian." she said softly. "I want you, and I want you tonight. Don't you still want me?" she asked with a tilt to her head.

"Rina, you shouldn't even have to ask that. Of course I still want you, but you're fragile…"

"Fragile? Do I look fragile to you Brian?" she said stalking towards him. He took a step backward towards the bathroom. "I want to feel you in me Brian, I want to feel you on me. I'm not some fine china that you can't touch. Stop treating me as if I was." She reached him and stretched up on her tiptoes. Rina wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her body against his. She caught his bottom lip in her teeth and bit gently. She pulled his lip down and sucked on it.

He groaned, how the hell was he supposed to keep to his good intentions when she was like this? Oh to hell with good intentions. Brian wrapped his arms around her nude body and pulled her closer. Rina grinned in triumph against his lips. They worked hastily to rid him of the offending articles of clothing. They fell to the bed in laughter. They spent the rest of the day making love, and resting, only to wake up and make love again. Brian slept next to her for the entire night, and she woke him to love her again.

The next morning he was gone when she awoke but she figured he'd gone to work at the garage. She felt glorious. What a night. What that boy could do when he put his mind to it. It was amazing. She grinned. Rina stood up and walked towards the bathroom. She heard a noise out in the living room and figured Brian must have forgotten something and come back for it. Grinning she headed out to the living wrapped up in the bed sheet.

Brian was grinning from ear to ear all day at work. When they quit for the day, he headed home, took a shower, and headed over to Rina's. Odd, the door was unlocked. Brian walked in and called out to her. "Rina?" No answer. Hmmm. Weird. "Catrina?"

When he didn't get a response he walked back over to the Toretto house. "Hey Mia, did you see Rina leave?"

"No." she said frowning. "Actually she told me she was going to be coming over here later today. She never showed up."

Brian raced out the door and back over to Rina's house. When he entered the house he heard her cell phone ringing. "RINA?" He shouted in a panic. He dug for the cell phone and answered it.

Mia had sent the other guys over as soon as they walked in.

"Hello?"

"Is Catrina there?" a man asked.

"Who is this?" Brian asked.

"This is Detective Cassidy. I need to talk to Catrina. Drew Langston managed to evade the officers stationed outside of his room at the hospital. We don't know where he is. We're worried he could be looking for Catrina."

Brian dropped to his knees. "She's not here Detective. I can't find her."

"Brian, there's blood over here man." Dom told him. Brian walked over numbly to see a lamp on the ground behind the couch, and blood on the ground near it.

"He has her Detective. Langston has Catrina." 


End file.
